The Gift by Bryan M. Litfin - REVIEWED

About the Book:(from the publisher)

The Chiveis Trilogy takes readers hundreds of years into the future. War and disease have destroyed civilization as we know it. Much technology has been discarded and history is largely forgotten. Slowly, the few survivors have begun to build new communities, and kingdoms now prosper in a kind of feudal order. But the Word of God has been lost for centuries.


After the finding of an Old Testament in book one of the trilogy, The Gift picks up the story of Teo and Ana. Exiled from their homeland and trying to survive in unknown and dangerous lands, they search for any record of the missing Testament. Their journeys lead them into the region we know as Italy. An elite society welcomes Ana, who finds she must choose between her new life and her dream of returning to Chiveis. Will Teo and Ana’s relationship withstand the circumstances and new enemies pulling them apart? And can Teo keep ahead of a powerful and mysterious force opposing his search for the New Testament?


Litfin’s imagination and fast-paced narrative style will capture the hearts and minds of all fiction readers.

My thoughts:
"You may find that knowledge demand its price, young Teofil." (p.127)


Anna and Teo are willing to pay any price to discover a copy of the New Testament in the future world they live in. So much has been destroyed, and yet they have a copy of the Old Testement (read the first book in the series!!) which has already cost them dearly and which they are trying to translate and share. Their desire to fully understand the Old Testament leads them on a quest for which they will pay yet a greater price. But it is, in fact, a price they are willing to pay. Or at least they think they are!

Oh reader! You really must read this series!! It is quite incredible! Well written, exciting and a great adventure transports you to a future world that may exist one day if humanity contines on its current path. One thing is clear though, without God, without Christ, mankind is lost and doomed to repeat their mistakes and sins without end.

You will really enjoy this book! I highly recommend it!!


About the Author:
Bryan Litfin was born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in a Christian home as the son of a seminary professor, pastor, and college president. In addition to Texas, he has lived in Memphis, Tennessee, and Oxford, England.


Bryan earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the University of Tennessee as well as a master’s degree in historical theology at Dallas Theological Seminary. From there he went to the University of Virginia, taking a PhD in the field of ancient church history. He is currently professor of theology at Moody Bible Institute in downtown Chicago, where he has been since 2002. He teaches courses in theology, church history, and Western civilization from the ancient and medieval periods. He is the author of Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction (Brazos, 2007), as well as several scholarly articles and essays. Bryan has always enjoyed epic adventure stories as well as historical fiction, but most of his reading these days is taken up by academia.


Today Bryan lives in downtown Wheaton in a Victorian house built in 1887. He and his wife Carolyn are parents to two children. For recreation Bryan enjoys basketball, traveling, and hiking anywhere there are mountains. The Litfins attend College Church in Wheaton, where Bryan has served on the Board of Missions and as a deacon. He also helped start Clapham School, a Christian primary school in Wheaton using the classical model of education.

The Gift Trailer from Crossway on Vimeo.